Universal Credit - Benefits Shake-up Begins

29 April 2013

A massive shake-up in the UK benefits system begins today (29th April 2013), with the first claims made for new universal credit payments.

It begins with a very small number of new claimants in Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester, but will eventually affect nearly eight million people.

The benefit is for working age people looking for work, and will replace income-based jobseeker's allowance, income-related employment and support allowance, income support, child tax credit, working tax credit, and housing benefit.

Championed by Mr Duncan Smith, the benefits overall hopes to create a system whereby people are always better off in work than on benefits. It is also designed to simplify the welfare system by bringing a number of benefits together and reducing fraud and error.

The key features of universal credit include:

• A single, monthly payment which the government says mirrors the world of work, but charities say could create problems for personal money management
• The inclusion of financial help to pay rent, which is currently paid directly to landlords
• An online-only claiming process, with accounts also managed online
• The benefit paid to households, rather than individuals, and put straight into bank accounts
• Benefits automatically adjusted depending on earnings, which employers enter into a computer system called Real-Time Information

The only claimants to receive universal credit in the initial stages will be single, new claimants at a jobcentre in Ashton-under-Lyne.

Three other pilot projects - in Warrington, Oldham, and Wigan - have been delayed until July.

From October, newly unemployed people will make claims under the new system. Current benefits and tax credits will gradually be shifted to universal credit from spring 2014, with the whole process completed by 2017.